Competition sees students from Irish universities compete for most professional analysis of a quoted Irish company

Five Masters in International Finance students from NUI Galway have won the Chartered Financial Analysts Ireland 2014 Research Challenge for their analysis of Ryanair plc.

The Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. Students gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst and are tested on their ability to value a stock, write an initiation-of-coverage report, and present their recommendations to a panel of leading financial services professionals.

The NUI Galway team consisted of: Sam Ryan, Shane O’Brien, and Anthony Patrick Saoud, all from Galway City; Oisín Kenny from the USA; and Conor Hanniffy from Athlone, Co. Roscommon.

Speaking after their win, the team said that they had taken a very positive view of Ryanair plc. Anthony Patrick Saoud said: “Our analyses suggested a potential share price of some €9.05 a share – an upside of 24% on the current share price. We believe that Ryanair had secured an incredibly strong competitive position in the airline market in Europe and that current changes in the positioning of the company would lead to income growth from new charges.”

The President of the CFA Society Ireland, Ronan McCabe said: “NUI Galway really had to earn their win this year as the overall standard of all the teams competing was exceptionally high.”

The winning team will now go on to compete in the European Middle East Africa (EMEA) Finals of the competition in Milan in early April.

In addition to NUI Galway, teams from Trinity, UCD, UCC, Dublin City University, and Queens University Belfast took part in the Irish leg of the competition.